Regenerative Coma
by totallynotsuspicioususername
Summary: Doctor River Song has had many patients, but among all of them, one has remained. The affectionately named 'Doctor' was brought in after a house fire, and every other child in the ward has claimed to go on adventures with him. DISCLAIMER: I'm not a professional with mental disabilities, if I write something inaccurate or offensive, please let me know
1. Introduction - Clara

The room itself had a sterile atmosphere. Everything in it was white, the walls and floors to the beds and sheets that covered the children tucked inside, some asleep, some probably never going to wake up again. It was next to one of these girls in bed that another sat, looking very much the same, but with wide, almost fearful eyes as she watched the woman who walked into the room, checking on the children. She relaxed a little, however, as she saw the name tag. _Doctor River Song,_ she was a doctor. She took a deep breath, finally taking the courage to ask the woman what she'd been curious about for a while. "Excuse me, Doctor Song?" She asked quietly.

River was taken aback by the sudden voice, turning around quickly with a gasp before exhaling. "Oh, I'm sorry. When you work with children in rooms like this, sometimes it's hard to remember that they'll have visitors their age. You must be Clara, aren't you? Oswin says she has a sister when she's awake."

"Sisters. Plural." She replied, almost immediately. "There is..." She froze, wincing. "..._was,_ Victoria as well, triplets." She paused, with a small, sad smile. "It was hell for Mum."

"Of course. You'll have to forgive me." River said, sympathetically. "What was your question?"

"Well, I've been coming in here a while. Oswin likes company, she says it keeps the voices away for a bit. There's that boy, at the end of the room. No-one ever comes to visit him, and he never wakes up. Who is he?"

River gave her a small smile, beckoning for her to come closer. After a small look at Oswin, she followed, leaning over to look at the boy. He had a square-ish face, with a large fringe that covered his eye. He looked tall, although it was hard to tell with him lying down. "This is John. But no one ever really calls him that. He was brought in by a cousin, Susan, about two years ago. She was in tears, saying that a fire had started while she was at their home. She'd gotten him out, but he'd inhaled too much smoke trying to save his parents. He's been asleep since. We call him the Doctor, because according to Susan, he's always wanted to help people. There's something about him though, the people who stay in here swear that he shows up in their dreams. He's always grinning, and he takes them on adventures. Perhaps he could be with Oswin now."

Clara gave a small smile. "I doubt it. Oswin doesn't really trust people."

River nodded. "I can imagine, with her condition. But people trust the Doctor. Once we had a girl in here, completely quiet around everyone but her grandfather, and I'd find her talking to him so loudly I had to ask her to be quiet." She smiled at the memory. "People trust our little Doctor here, but no one knows why."

Clara stared at the boy, nodding. "He's got a big chin." She remarked, causing River to laugh. "I suppose he does. "

The doctor walked around the room for a bit, checking on the other children before walking to the door. "I have to go Clara, I'm sorry. It was nice to meet you."

Clara smiled in return. "Of course, goodbye Doctor Song." She replied, sitting next to 'The Doctor.' He looked like he needed some company. She wondered what had happened to Susan and the others as she started to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 1 - Rose

Authors note: I'm sorry this one was published a while after the first, I could make some crappy excuse about how schoolwork is hard, but it's not because of that. I'm just a major procrastinator. I'll establish a set time to update chapters after a bit, I've only really got seven I can do at the moment, unless I go onto Classic Who

* * *

Rose couldn't remember life without the Bad Wolf. She remembered becoming the Bad Wolf in kindergarten, letting the strange sense of power overflow. She barely realised anything was wrong, not noticing the screams as she pulled a girls hair, the tears as she told them all they were nothing. Jackie had been horrified, arriving early, to her joy, and taking her home, pale-faced and barely looking at her daughter. It hadn't been long after that when the therapy had started.

She always liked the nice people who talked to her, let her tell them about the Bad Wolf. That it was different to her, and when it felt like coming, it always would. It always seemed in a bad mood though, telling anyone how powerful it was. They told Jackie it was Multiple Personality Disorder, that it could probably be lessened by getting Rose to do something creative.

Painting worked, for a while. She'd come home from a successful day at school, and rather than doing her homework, she'd go up to her room and gather up her paints which she'd somehow managed to scatter around since the night before. In fact, up until she was eleven, she'd managed to get through with barely any reappearances from the Bad Wolf, or at least at school. Then it came back with a vengeance, like it was fighting to take over. Jackie had dropped Rose at a hospital in tears, saying she couldn't take it anymore. No-one really had the heart to tell her that she was in the wrong ward, so Rose found herself with a splitting headache in the large hospital room. It was empty, save for the one boy in the bed in the corner of the room, who the kind curly haired woman had called the Doctor. Comatose, by the look of him. The heavy painkillers were really taking their toll as she struggled to stay awake. She closed her heavy eyes, falling asleep quickly.

She opened her eyes hastily with a gasp as her name was called. "Rose! I told you to fold those ages ago, now I find you sleeping on the job? I swear to god, you're _this close _from losing your job."

She hastily stumbled to her feet, frowning. _A job?_ She looked around, quickly recognising the department floor of Henriks. She frowned as she looked around, realising that she felt _lighter_, almost. Like there was something lifted from her shoulders. She quickly registered that there was no underlying feeling of lust for power, that the emotions she'd associated with the Bad Wolf were gone. With a sight of relief, she decided to play along with the dream, folding the pink t-shirts and guiding the customers with her knowledge of the shop, until the end of the day when she decided it was time to leave and wake up. As she grabbed the bag that could only be hers and got to the door, she was stopped by the same woman who had yelled at her earlier, who held out a bag of money from the till. "Tell Wilson the day's over." Was the only thing she said before leaving herself, tossing Rose the keys.

It didn't take Rose long to find the electricians room, surprisingly, knocking on the door and calling for the man, hoping that her name would elicit a response. Her curiosity rose as she only heard her own voice, echoing. She decided to venture around to look for him, curiosity turning to worry which quickly turned to fear as she was cornered by what had to be university students dressed up like plastic men. She really did believe that, until one of them raised it's arm, looking ready to either hurt her greatly or even kill her. She braced herself for the impact as she felt a warm hand grab hers, and an insistent voice.

"Run."

Rose barely registered what happened after that until the explosion jolted her back to reality, or as real as a dream could get. She knew the name of the man, or the pathetic excuse for one she'd been given, who would be called The Doctor? She knew that the plastic things _definitely _weren't students fooling around, and she knew that she could never tell anyone what she'd just seen and done.

* * *

She woke up with a jolt, sitting bolt upright and looking at the only other boy in the room. The comatose. She walked over to him, picking up a small book light from a bedside table and turning it on, staring at the boys face. He looked like that man, the Doctor. She shook her head, _it was just a dream._ She looked out of the window of the white room, and seeing that it was still dark outside, she went back to her bed, taking her time to fall asleep now, but eventually she managed.

* * *

Her eyes flew open as an alarm went off, and she registered blearily that she was in bed. Not the uncomfortable bed in the hospital, but the lovely pink one at her own house. She lay back down as her mother called "It's no use getting up sweetheart, you've got no job." She rolled her eyes. Like it was her fault! Aside from anything else, it was just a dream anyway.

She wandered around the house for a while as Jackie talked to her friends about how Rose could have been killed, and it was only in the afternoon that she heard a small scratching sound from the door. The catflap, the one that her mother had supposedly nailed shut. She jumped back as she flicked it open, seeing a face, the same face as the man before, the Doctor. She opened the door, ready to give the strange man a piece of her mind.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, and he sounded as confused as she felt.  
"I live here." She said, shaking her head at his answer of. "What would you want to do that for?"

There was really nothing else to do but to follow him after the plastic hand _moved._ This dream was much too similar to the last for her liking, but she'd play along, just until she woke up. She might as well enjoy not having the Bad Wolf while she could.

After all of the day's events, the living plastic that the Doctor called the Nestene Consciousness and the beheading of her plastic boyfriend and the moving blue box, she was all but ready to wake up. That was until he stood at the door of the 'TARDIS' while Mickey whimpered at her feet, offering her a spot on board. She didn't want to shatter the illusion, tell him that she had to wake up, so she made up some sort of excuse about her life here. He almost looked sad as he closed the door, but just as soon as the box disappeared with a grating sound, it reappeared. "Did I mention it could travel in time?" He asked, and that was what sold her. For once she could finally escape, even if only for a little. Letting Mickey go, she ran into the blue box that was bigger inside.

* * *

Travelling with the Doctor was by far one of the best things Rose had ever done. She was able to go to new places, see new things, and she was free of everything that had tied her down in her real life. That was why when she woke during the London Blitz after hanging from a rope, to the sound of an American accent and a doctor (a real one, not her own), she was disappointed, to say the least. But as the American boy sat on the bed next to her and winked, brandishing the sling on his arm, she couldn't help but blush. He introduced himself as Jack, and she talked with him until it got dark. She was incredibly eager to go to bed, she wanted to continue her adventures with the Doctor.

Obviously time hadn't passed in her dream world, as when she woke up, she was back in the Blitz, still on the rope. It wasn't long after that she fell, screaming, into the arms of a very attractive, very familiar American man, who looked as confused as she was. "Jack?" She asked, as he asked her the same question (substituting his name for hers, of course). After questioning what each one was doing in their dream world, she brought up her own point.  
"How do we know we're both in the other's dream? This isn't like anything I've had before."  
Both agreed they had no idea, and Rose went off to find the Doctor.

After they got back inside the TARDIS to travel away, Rose couldn't stop grinning. The Doctor was happy, Jack was traveling with them, and she was happier than she had been in her entire life. She didn't care whether it was a dream or not anymore, all she cared about was where to go next. Until their second time at the Game Station and the Daleks.

After The Weakest Link and the Dalek ship, the battle was almost a blur to Rose. She didn't even get to say goodbye to Jack before she was locked in the TARDIS. The world around her began to fade away, and she realised why after she tried to put her hand on the console and it fell right through. She was waking up. He'd known, the Doctor had known and he'd never told her. She screamed at the console, and she screamed at the woman holding her wrist as she woke up, only to discover that it was her mother. Jackie embraced her tightly, murmuring how sorry she was in between tears. Rose didn't react, instead patting her mum's hand repetitively, wanting to go back. She made an excuse about being tired after a long while of tears, laying back down and turning to look at the bed next to her where Jack should be. Only he wasn't there, he was gone. She wondered where as she fell asleep again, back in the TARDIS. Opening the door, she felt a horrible rush of disappointment as she looked out at London, to dream Jackie and Mickey. However, she managed to finally get their help, trying to open the console of the TARDIS. It had worked for Blon, why couldn't it work for her. She didn't hear Mickey yell as the doors shut behind her, only focusing on the light streaming from the centre of the room in the box, and the heavy feeling that came with it, that lust to do more. The Bad Wolf. But this time she could help. This time she could save someone with the Bad Wolf, she could do something _right._ With that in mind, she traveled back to the Game Station, one with the being that had been inside her for as long as she could remember.

_I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words… _  
_…I scatter them, in time and space.__ A message, to lead myself here. _

"Rose, you've got to stop this, you've got to stop this now! You've the entire vortex running through you're head, you're gonna burn!" The words rung in her head, and she tried to fight back before the Bad Wolf reassured her she was safe. She'd make him safe. Her Doctor.

_I want you safe, my Doctor. Protected from the false God. _

She was drawn out of her haze by a robotic voice, one that demanded attention. "You cannot hurt me. I am immortal." And this time, she didn't fight the presence inside of her. She let it fight for her, let it protect the Doctor.

_ You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space, every single atom of your existence, and I divide them. _  
_Everything must come to dust. All things, everything dies. _She let it channel the TARDIS energy into the Emperor of the Daleks and watched him crumble. _The time war ends. _

"Rose, you've done it, now stop. Just let go." The Doctor was almost pleading, and it confused her. Why should she stop?

_How can I let go of this? I bring life. _She wasn't sure whose life she brought, but she'd done something.

"But this is wrong! You can't control life and death!" He reasoned, and she almost laughed. Of course he would say that, her Doctor

_But I can. The sun and the moon, the day and night…_ Finally, Rose faltered as her head began to burn._ but why do they hurt?_

"The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault!" He sounded so hopeless. She needed to convince him she was fine.

_I can see everything… all that is… all that was… all that ever could be. _He was smiling - why was he smiling?

"But that's what _I_ see. All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?"

And it was those words, those words so much like him, the best thing in her life that brought Rose Tyler back.

"My head." She whimpered, wanting it all to stop, suddenly a child again.

"Come here_." _

_"_It's killing me." She needed him to understand that. This wasn't small pain, she felt like she was going to die. By this time her hands were in his, and he was smiling, that stupid, goofy, Doctor grin.  
_"_I think you need a Doctor." He said, and the line was so terrible, so horrible that she was going to say something, but then his lips were on hers and everything left her, only that sensation. She held onto it until she came to in the TARDIS.

He made up some spiel about singing and the Daleks going away, and she didn't have the heart to tell him she remembered. The lighthearted mood ceased, however, as the Time Lord doubled over. He yelled at her to stay back, and she wasn't sure whether to obey him.

He told her before he went, and she cut him off. She didn't want to hear him say that, like he'd lost hope, but he had. She could see it in his eyes. And then he told her she was fantastic, and with that stupid grin, he complimented himself. As he threw his head back, the golden light was the last thing she saw before white, and yelling. The constant beeping of the hospital room was gone, replaced with an irregular beep and an alarm, with nurses and doctors running to the bed on the other side of the room. His bed, the comatose boys bed. The Doctor's bed. She ran out of bed, sprinting over. "What is it, what's going on?" She asked, but she was ignored as they wheeled his bed away. She fell to her knees, listening as the noises got further and further away.


End file.
